Alert:
Bren Mar Park Master Plan Administrative Update
Fairfax County Park Authority has made an Administrative Update to the master plan for Bren Mar Park to include an additional acre of land acquired in 2017. There are no major changes to the park’s character or planned facilities. The updated Bren Mar Park Master Plan was approved by the Park Authority Board on February 28, 2018. Thank you to those members of the community who expressed an interest in Bren Mar Park and shared their suggestions for the master plan.
Bren Mar Park provides opportunities for outdoor recreation and enjoyment of nature across its 32.4 acres. Located west of Interstate 395 (I-395) along Edsall Road, the park is surrounded by the residential communities of Overlook, Bren Mar, Jefferson Green, and the Ridges at Edsall. The park contains a playground, a small picnic shelter and a 19-space parking area, as well as several existing natural surface trails and an asphalt trail which connect to the stream valley trail network within Turkeycock Run Stream Valley Park. Classified as a Local Park, Bren Mar Park provides a variety of active and passive recreation opportunities for local residents.
Acquisition
The land that became Bren Mar Park was acquired over a period of almost 60 years. The park was originally a single 9.10 -acre parcel acquired by the Board of Supervisors (BOS) in 1959 (Tax Map Parcel 81-1 ((17) 16A). A second 5.07-acre parcel was purchased by the Park Authority in 1975 and allowed for the provision of active recreation facilities in the park (Tax Map Parcel 72-3 ((1)) 27). As the Overlook residential development occurred in 2006 near the park, an additional 17.21 acres were dedicated to the Park Authority (Tax Map Parcels 72-3 ((33)) B2 B and 81-1 ((16)) B4. The one-acre parcel (Tax Map Parcel 81-1 ((1)) 16) was acquired by the Park Authority in 2017 to be added to the park. The addition of this parcel created the 32.4-acre park as it exists today.
The purpose of the current Administrative Update of the master plan for Bren Mar Park is to incorporate the additional acre of land into the park and to optimize the locations of the originally proposed facilities that have been approved by the Park Authority Board in 2013. However, the new acquisition will not change the character of this park or incorporate previously unplanned features.
